Senescence ongoing
Biological to the core
Cellular and systemic
Even genes mutate
Creeps in on you
Like a thief at night
Movement deliberate
Your thoughts too
The new kids run
Outpacing you
The final stretch
Never ending
Energy flagging
Redeemed by love
Unconditional and true
As you kick to the end
A thief is one who takes without notice or permission
You are the biggest thief, no remorse, never caught
leaving brokenness, emptiness, depression and loneliness
with every robbery.
No one can ever reclaim or recover what you've taken as you
take from the young, the old, the rich, the poor, from the suburbs and the ghetto.
You don't care if they are white, black, red, yellow or brown.
No respect for any, never full, never enough, with greedy eyes
ever searching, hands grabbing and snatching the very air that we breathe
you are the biggest thief, no one likes you, but you don't care, you come again
and again leaving hearts shattered in pieces.
Not one day goes by that you rest as you take quickly and quietly stealing
hopes, dreams, and futures.
I will never understand why or when you take, or the extreme grief your leave
for us to carry and then you will come again until you take everything.
Death, Death, Death.
Desire is a thief
It crashed through my window last night and stole my heart
It left through the front door
Leaving my house untouched
But now there’s a hole in my chest
And a letter with your name on it
I think he stole it for you
I don't know where I'll find my heart
But I'm glad it's in good hands
I'll follow the sound of it beating back to you
Let clichés get frowned at in poetry,
Though trite, a tested phrase is still my friend
That saves goodly time, trouble too to me,
Describing it in a long-winding hand.
The grass is greener and apples sweeter,
And why should those fish bite the other rod?
Why distant hills to me look prettier?
And ‘shining object syndrome’ seem so odd?
Yet, too little can I on the ‘ther side,
Were I to shun the use of a trite phrase,
Escape there’s none than a long-winding ride
That won’t invoke visions of envied grass.
Let trite phrase be the thief of joyous cake,
Clichés do some useful toys to me make.
_______________________________
Tongue-in-cheek | 03.07.2026 | cliché/word play, friend, humour, poetry, Sonnet
Once upon a time, Rumple
Stein sat by the glowing fire
and called the children close.
"Tonight," he whispered with
a wicked smile, "I will tell you
about the Dust- Gnasher."
This creature has skin like old
parchment and razor- sharp fingers
long enough to wrap around the
mattress.
It waits in absolute silence,
completely flattered beneath
your dark bed frame all night
long.
The moment the bedroom
lights click off, its yellow eyes
pop open in the shadows.
It listens for the sound of
deep breathing to know you
are finally fast asleep.
Then, it slowly slides out to
sniff the air, looking for tiny
bare feet hanging off the edge.
If you leave a toe uncovered,
it's cold, bristly tongue will
give it a tiny bite.
It loves to steal loose socks
and chew on plastic toys with
its full, clicking teeth.
"So tuck your blankets tightly
tonight," Rumple chuckled,
"because it is listening right
now."
Betsy was a saint
always there for her mother
she was selfless, giving her time and energy
Her sisters were selfish, never there for mom
my cousin’s side of the story
Betsy took over her mother’s finances
Her mother called me crying
Betsy had cleaned her out
She did not have any money left
Three bank accounts gone
my brother’s side of the story
Betsy’s sisters are horrible
They were mean to her at the funeral
She was so good to their mother
They must be jealous
I cannot remember who said this but someone did
Betsy’s sisters told her they would not prosecute or put her in prison
if she did not attend the funeral, so she did not show up
My brother’s wife threw this to me
Betsy was a saint; she did everything for her mother
I retire from the funeral glad I am not related to any of them
THREATS FROM CIRO GARGANO AND HIS PROSTITUTE JAMAICAN JHORE BREAKING INTO HOMES IN CYPRESS LAKES SEARCHING FOR MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES BIRTH CERTIFICATES VETERANS INFORMATION SADLY DD214 EXPOSED TO THIS CRIMINAL GROUP WE HAVE PLACED FRAUD ALERT ON OUR LIVES THIS EXTREME IDENTITY THEFT ATTACKS. BEGAN WITH ATTEMPTS TO MURDER ME JU THREATS DEMANDING I ALLOW A JAMAICAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS PROSTITUTE FROM CIRO GARGANO STABLE OF FLESH PEDDLERS PERPUTRTATE FRAUD UPON ME AND THE MILTARY ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART IN ORDER TO EXTORT MY HUSBAND PURPLE HEART VALOR TO FEED TO CRIME BOSSES LIVING IN FLORIDA WITH NO HEALTHCARE NO DEALYOU CANNOT EXTORT MY IDENTITY I HAVE 8 CHILDREN I AM ON ALL THEIR BIRTH CERTIFICATES ******* YOUR JHORE NEEDS TO BACK OFF AND FLEE BACK TO JAMAICA LEAVE MY FAMILY ALONE WE ARE AMERICAN ITS TRULY SAD WATCHING SUCH TERROR UNFORLD UPON OUR MILTARY FAMILY LIVING HERE IN CYPRESS LAKES BELIEVING ITS SAFE AND ITS NOT HOME INVASIONS REKEYING SENIORS HOMES TO TAKE THIER INSURANCE POLICY WILLS MILITARY RECORDS TO FEED TO KILLERS HITMEN RETIRED HITMEN ATTACKING VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES NO DEAL THREATS BLACKMAIL NO DEAL WITH CIRO GARGANO AND HIS JHORES ISIS IDENTITY THIEVES
The Crocked souls final Toll
In the veil of darkness,
There creeps the crooked ugly dark soul
Who opened Hell’s door
With a key stolen from the gate keeper
Hiding so nobody sees it
Looting anything worth coin and pure
With a dark plan within its soul
How to resurrect its self
As an innocent soul
As it envisions itself as dignitary
Throwing its sulphur glare
At folk who challenged it
It couldn’t hold its contempt to long
As Hell’s bells rang
Then folk’s sudden realisation
It was stealing from them
They took the key and prey tell
It got caught and thrown back into Hell.
Thief In the Night
I will rain in the clouds.
My return will be beyond sound.
I will be a thief in the night.
I will take with authority what is mine.
Believe in me for I am the beginning and the end.
I reach out my hand to you as a friend.
Don’t be afraid of the dark.
One day I will be knocking at your door.
For I am the light and the way.
There will be false prophets pretending to take my place.
Walk the narrow road, and don’t stray too far.
Hold up the candle like a star.
Trust in me always.
I have a home for you above far away.
You have always been a part of me.
I will take your place when you are suffering.
I hold you up like you are my son.
I am proud of you for what you have done.
You are down to earth and humble.
You would put yourself last and help others when they stumble.
You're everything to me.
I suffered on the cross because you believed.
In the darkest days I will return.
Everything and everyone against me will burn.
The blood I shed for you Is all you need.
Through me you can be free.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Petals blush like dawn~
morning steals the lilies' scent,
soft as risen light.
Barefoot in the dew, I find
eggshells gleaming, sugar-cracked.
squirrel stealing seeds
birds watching waiting their turn
trees hiding their nests
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This poem is a response to the above picture and assignment for an online poetry class.
At first, you are nothing~
just a whisper of damp,
a blush on the cheek of iron.
Then, the slow unmaking begins.
You are the orange psalm of neglect,
the liturgy of rain on forgotten things.
You hymn about the ribs of old ships,
the teeth of plows left in fields,
the skeleton keys to houses
that no longer exist.
You take without hands.
You kiss without lips.
You are the color of time
And when the wind combs
through the carcass of a car,
you answer in flakes~
each one a tiny, crumbling yes
to the question no one asked.
Oh, patient thief,
you will inherit the earth.
Not with fire, not with flood,
but with your quiet, relentless
rust.
There is a war inside my soul
When I think – how this might go
Can this prayer still make me whole?
There is grief … oh, can I hope?
There is a fear living inside
Where truth and love provide
One who knows the bloods applied
Can I hear the voice of light?
There is a war that grips my life
Will God see beyond my fight
The tears I’ve cried in this strife
Such an ache, overflowing dread
There is a fear I can’t let go
It’s a battle that darkens my soul,
There is only One I know…
Who can silence this sorrow, healing…
Beyond the darkness, in spite of the grief
I can see the reason for my heart’s belief
He is the Savior who brings such relief
With Him beside, I’ll overcome this thief
The Vesper Step
I found a gem inside the wood,
A ruby heart of shining light.
I knew that it was very good,
To guide me through the dark of night.
I held it close to hear the rhythm beat,
A sound that made my life feel so complete.
It whispered words of love into my ear,
And told me I had nothing left to fear.
But now the object burns into my palm,
It steals the lifeblood from my face,
Destroying all the calm,
Without a trace,
Gone.
Thought is the thief, opaquing light
ever aglow in heart,
so in silence garner clear sight,
by adding love to cart.
Present in witness mode,
heart centre our abode,
let’s pay to God an ode.
Turn a new leaf ~
Thought is the thief
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